The secret behind Your Majesty's award winning culture of innovation

From one success to the next. Year after year. Your Majesty is the digital agency that succeeded in what everyone is dreaming about: Fun projects, international customers – and happy employees. This is how they do it.

If you ask a handful of design students what their dream workplace looks like, chances are that Your Majesty will come up on top. With projects more similar to art installations rather than traditional campaigns, they stand out in a unique way in the agency world. All the awards also reflect the level of creativity. Your Majesty has received over 200 different prices, and most certainly more to come.

If we look at their customer list, we will find companies like Spotify, Google, adidas, Samsung, Netflix etc. Today Your Majesty is more a creative hub and a reference point for digital innovation and development than anything else.

But what lies behind their success? How can a relatively small agency continue to evolve year after year and create groundbreaking projects?

– We work quite non-traditional. Our work process is similar to a partnership where all involved, both customers and employees, move quickly and smoothly between the different roles. I think this keeps us curious, gives us inspiration and lets us discover and learning new things. And, in turn, people feel good and like their job.

This, according to Shiron Boots, Studio & HR Manager for Your Majesty in Amsterdam. She keeps getting back to what may sounds so easy, enjoying your job. Ever since Your Majesty started working with & frankly (about three years ago), the focus has been on how much and in which way the employees enjoy coming to work. And the results are high. Even when the teams are struggling with tough projects and stress increases, the "happy at work" factor is relatively high.

And the reason for this has to do with the culture. Culture isn’t just something that happens randomly parallel to the day-to-day work. It’s a part of everything that goes on at Your Majesty. And it’s also contagious.

– When we asked our employees, what makes them proud of working at Your Majesty, they answered "when I hear others talk about us and our culture". It makes me extremely proud to read it, says Shiron and highlights the benefits of working with open questions, "it gives you a little more insight and understanding".

Every year Your Majesty celebrates Midsummer. A tradition that has it's roots in the fact that the founders of the company comes from Sweden.

High results and satisfied employees are all very well. And working in partnership with the customers has meant even more than that.

– We have become much more agile in our way of working, which in turn makes our timelines shorter and that we are better equipped to manage changes in the course of the projects. Because that happens all the time. Each producer keeps track of how the projects are going, so we are constantly calibrating what we do and how we do it, says Shiron.

Here is also where the core of the culture emerges. Shiron tells us that there is a natural knowledge sharing process between the management and the teams, which means that everyone gathers around the same goals. Humble, responsibly – and very efficient.

When it comes to the use of &frankly, Your Majesty continuously sends out pulsed surveys on different topics related to engagement:

Engagement

Motivation pulse

Wellbeing

Performance

Leadership

Onboarding

However, Shiron emphasizes the importance of not sending out questions too often.

– No more than two packages a month. Otherwise, the response rate will decrease. And it should be quick, says Shiron.

She sees &frankly first and foremost as a tool for creating a good dialogue. And people do talk. The results in &frankly are a permanent item in the weekly meetings and constantly recurring in team leaders' discussions with the employees.

So, what's the secret formula? Give your employees ownership and responsibility. And invest in building a place that is fun to come to in the morning.

Curious about &frankly? If you want to know more about how you could use &frankly to trigger employee engagement and drive positive change in your workplace, book a demo and we'll be in touch shortly!